The Premier League clubs circling round Chelsea starlet Patrick Bamford will need to offer guaranteed gametime to get their man, according to the London Evening Standard.
Reports today suggest Tim Sherwood’s Aston Villa are the latest team to express an interest in signing the 21-year-old striker on a season-long loan next term. They are said to have joined Southampton, Crystal Palace and Everton in the race to land Bamford.
But the Evening Standard report states that Chelsea will only allow their youngster to join any of those top-flight suitors if Bamford is assured of getting regular starts for them.
He has spent the current season on loan in the Championship with Middlesbrough and was recently named as the division’s player of the year.
Blues boss Jose Mourinho is reportedly hopeful that Boro manage to secure promotion to the Premier League via the playoffs so that Bamford can return to the Riverside Stadium for a second season.
That would ensure he joins the top flight with a club where he is already an established first-team regular and would continue to be under the guidance of Mourinho’s former assistant Aitor Karanka.
